A pre-apprentice lineworker school in Spokane has filled early with 54 students for a Jan. 2 session designed to teach both technical skills in the classroom and daily power-pole climbs in varied weather conditions.

Under a partnership between Spokane Community College and Avista Utilities, part of Avista Corp., the school operates on Avista property in North Spokane to teach entry-level skills for the trade of lineworkers. For utility companies, the trade involves installing, maintaining, and repairing electric power transmission and distribution equipment along power poles.

The Avista-SCC Pre-Apprentice Lineworker School consistently draws 40 to 50 students in each of two 16-week sessions a year, including one from early July into October, and a winter program Jan. 2 to April 24. As one of three lineworker schools in the Northwest—the others are in Astoria, Ore., and Meridian, Idaho—it draws students from this region and across the U.S.

Job placement among graduates averages about 80 percent for apprentice positions, typically at utility companies, but also for utility-line contractor companies or cell phone tower work.

However, the program is both physically and mentally challenging, school operators say. On average, eight to 10 students drop out per session.

"We offer a seven-day refund period of 100 percent of the tuition because the first seven days are like boot camp," says Bill Magers, the school program's manager. Employed full time by Avista, Magers mainly oversees the school operations but also is a journeyman-level lineworker who can be called to help during any major outages.

He adds, "We make sure they're not really afraid of heights. It sounds cool, and there's lot of money in the job, but it takes hard work and dedication."

SCC handles the enrollment, financial aid, tuition payments, and administrative support for the school, Magers says. While traditional financial-aid packages are available to the students through SCC, the total cost for the school runs close to $11,500 total for in-state residents when including tuition, tools, climbing gear, and a commercial driver's license fee.

The out-of-state cost for tuition plus gear and the license fee is around $12,000.

The school's first few days will give students a taste of the profession, he adds. "They start to see that they'll be working in the heat, or the snow and cold and rain, and some decide it's not for them."

Students who complete the school usually get hired soon after graduation into apprentice positions that pay in a range of $22 to $28 per hour depending on location, Magers says. They work as pre-apprentice or apprentice linemen, for which they're paid to train on the job for three to four years to become journeyman-level linemen, who typically earn almost $40 an hour.

"Our placement for our last class was 95 percent, but on average, our placement is 80 percent for those willing to travel or move outside the Northwest," Magers says. From the recent class that ended Oct. 22, a total of 33 of 35 graduates already are employed in entry-level positions, he adds. "Our students go on to work throughout the country, including the Northwest."

Lineworker training programs such as the one in Spokane are important to the industry, and likely to remain popular, because of a large attrition rate anticipated among people in the trade who will retire in the next decade.

"Almost half of the workforce working in energy today will be retiring in the next decade," says Dan Kolbet, Avista communications manager. "That's not just linemen, that's in the industry as a whole from the skilled trade people to engineers, and that's nationwide."

Rick Campos, an Inland Power & Light superintendent who oversees line crews and the apprenticeship program for the Spokane-based electric cooperative, says candidates from the three Northwest lineworker schools come better prepared to the trade.

"We like to see someone who has the commitment to go through one of the pre-apprentice programs because then they have a better idea of what's involved with the work," Campos says. "They're familiar with the tools, and they have the tools and the climbing gear."

He says Inland Power hasn't hired linemen apprentices for about two years but plans to hire one next year. It has about 36 linemen on staff who are all journeyman level. Campos says first-step Inland Power apprentices start at $28.79 an hour.

Avista typically first hires what it calls a pre-apprentice lineman, at about $22 an hour, as ground support crew members working with experienced lineworkers, Magers says. He says the pre-apprentices with Avista stay on the ground for about six months while they're tested, evaluated, and work up to a first-step apprentice lineman position at $27.67 an hour, Magers says.

In the Avista-SCC pre-apprentice school, students study electrical theory, math that includes algebra and trigonometry, safety requirements, and use of the trade's tools and equipment. Although students also learn about driving and operating trucks with buckets for lifting workers to lines, mastering the skill of climbing a power pole safely remains crucial to the trade.

"If a pole is in someone's backyard, or the property is in the mountains, it's one of the basic skills to be able to climb a pole safely and access the equipment," Magers says.

Students train on about 50 to 60 wood power poles lined up in an outdoor yard at the Avista training site. Mike Toutloff, a lead instructor, says students start out using their gear to climb on 30-foot poles, then move onto 40-foot poles. Eventually, they have to scale a few 65-foot poles onsite.

Each student also has to climb one 90-foot steel pole onsite before graduating, Toutloff says.

The students must learn about stringent safety standards and potential hazards in the industry because of working around electrically energized "live" wires, but those enrolled in the Avista-SCC lineworker school don't work directly with energized wires, Magers says.

"They'll work up to that on their apprenticeship," he says. "A typical apprenticeship is 3 1/2 to four years to become a journeyman."

The crucial role of linemen got recent national attention after Superstorm Sandy on the East Coast. The U.S. Department of Energy reported earlier this month that utility companies across the country mobilized 64,000 linemen and utility staff, including some from Spokane, to the region to repair downed power lines and bring electricity back online for 8.5 million customers.

The lineworker school here has two full-time instructors, who also are Avista lineworkers on assignment with the school under a one-year professional training rotation, and six part-time instructors who are retired foreman linemen from different utilities in the area, Magers says.

The Avista facility has classrooms and computer areas typically used in the mornings, with afternoons spent on outdoor skills. Students are present for a full work day, Monday through Friday.

While Avista may hire about eight graduates per session, Magers says, students are told upfront they'll likely have to look outside of the company for employment. The school also provides training in job interviewing and creating a resume.

Completion of the Avista-SCC lineworker certification program carries weight, Magers says.

The school's graduates have completed requirements for a commercial driver's license, a first aid-CPR card, a flagging-traffic control card, forklift certification, and an Occupational Safety and Health Administration card for passing a 10-hour safety class for transmission and distribution work, he says.

"All of this makes them employer-ready," Magers says. "The employer doesn't have to pay for all the minimum certifications, but they are certifications you have to have to be out on the job site."

People who enroll in the class must pass a math test, be at least 18 years old with a high school diploma or GED, have a valid driver's license without restrictions to obtain a commercial driver's license, pass a drug screening, go through an interview process, and meet SCC admission criteria.

The students in the Avista-SCC program range in age between 18 to 40 years old. While most students are male, about eight females have enrolled in recent years, Magers says.

"We encourage females, minorities, and veterans," Magers says. "We're seeing an increase in veterans, and we typically have about four to six veterans per class."

Magers says the program has grown significantly since it started in 1992, when it first attracted 10 to 12 students per session. "We usually start with around 40-plus students, and graduate around 35 to 38 on average per session," he says.

He adds, "We've outgrown our facility. We could have taken 100, but we're starting out with 54 in the next session—those are the ones already interviewed and tested."